Luckily, a lot of what I study gets presented in a somewhat abstract or generic way, making it easy to create mental models that can be used to think about software, writing, or IT infrastructure. While some what is covered is certainly a little out of date, I try to read as much as possible about new technologies, techniques, etc. by staying in tune with Twitter, industry blogs, conference talks, and mailing lists, in order to ensure I'm keeping up-to-date with what other people are doing in tech and the directions in which things are heading.